Tag Archives: nations

My first question: Why invoke ‘womenandchildren’ when condemning the use of chemical weapons by Assad? Chemical weapons cross a line of human decency – although one might argue that all weapons do so. Calling for the protection of “womenandchildren” allows leaders to frame wars as matters of national security, under the assumption that women and children must be protected for nations to be secure. “

“There is nothing new in using women as a cultural battleground. Women have regularly been used symbolically to signify and reproduce nations, cultures and religions; and the norms and values that constitute these….Women lose out because it is already pre-decided what “liberation” and “oppression” mean. It is not a choice.”